today was my very first shift at the Armory. amidst the chaos of my final week of the Fall semester in grad school, the holiday hubbub, subway delays, and too little time for the important things, i trekked my way up to the Upper East Side to read to the pigeons.

i could not be more grateful. upon arrival, i am filled with a sense of calm and expansiveness. there aren’t too many people in the Drill Hall. i see the familiar little heads of J.Ed and Deborah Black emerging from their intricate sheep’s wool cloaks. it is quiet and mellow. some people are laying on the floor beneath the curtain. others are slowly swinging in what seems like quiet contemplation. i want to join them, but i head back to the green room instead. it’s nice back there too. because we are instructed to show up 20 – 30 minutes before our shifts, i have time to stretch to make up for the yoga that i didn’t have time for in the morning. prior to this, i had a Kanji quiz and a taped in-class Japanese presentation. learning a new and complex language is difficult; communication in any language takes a great deal of energy in order to articulate oneself well.

i am about to hop in a Taksi imminently to stay at the Girls’ Villa Fancy Palace Place for one night…

Neelam, Carmen, Karen, and Bora have all left for an epic day of Elephant Riding and Rafting and seeing Dance Performances and Shopping. i couldn’t go because of an oddly-planned laundry endeavor and because i needed to take the proper time to check out and make my peace with Canggu.

it sometimes seems as if i have been left behind on this trip by various people that i have traveled to stay with. (Toshi off to Japan, Stephen, Paul, and Laura to Lombok, the Girls on their trek) and yet, it doesn’t feel as if i have been left behind, but rather that we parted when it was time to go. so that we can all move forward in the ways that we need…